Accumulator control valve



.April 1958 K. LANUERS ET AL CCUMULATOR CONTROL VALVE 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed July 1e, 1954 E7! NWN April 1958 1K. LANDERS ET AL ACCUMULATOR CONTROL VALVE sheets-sheet Filed July 16, 1954 United States Patent Oiiice j 2,829,666 Patented Apr. 8, 1958 2,829,666 AccUMULAroR CONTROL VALVE Klaus Landers and Lynn W. Martin, East Meadow, N. Y.

Application July `16, 1954, Serial No. 443,826

2 Claims. (Cl. 137-178) The present invention relates generally to automatic valves and specifically to an automatic drain valve for a hot water heating system which employs an overhead ac cumulator tank in which excess water due to its expansion when heated is stored and not expelled from the system.

There are many devices at present on the market and installed in present day heating plants which attempt to provide automatic drainage for accumulator tanks. Some are complicated to the point of being too expensive in construction and installation for the average small home system. Others are subject to failure for various reasons, such as not providing a valve which admits air to the top of the tank but drains water from a single drain as air is admitted.

The present invention has for its principal object to provide an automatic valve which is foolproof in operation and one which does not require complicated construction or many moving parts for its operation.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a valve of the type described which is simple to install and requires no alteration to the tank or system other than moving the inlet conduit.

A further object ofthe present invention is to provide a valve which opens automatically when water reaches a predetermined height in the tank, and one in which the air vent valve and the drain valve are opened simultaneously by the same mechanism.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide such an apparatus which will cause the water to be drained from the tank upon rise of the level of the water in the tank above a predetermined level and the admission of air in volume to replace the drained volume of water, and in such an apparatus another valve is provided which shuts oft the ow of water through the system into the tank until the accumulated water is drained.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be readily discernible upon examination of the annexed drawings and on consideration of the following description. indicate like parts throughout the several views are as follows:

Figure 1 is a vertical view in cross section showing the invention in a tank `and the llow of water thereinto indicated by the arrows,

Figure 2 is a similar view showing the invention in action after the water has risen to a predetermined height,

Figure 3 is an end view taken on line 3-3 of Figure 2 showing the details of the inlet valve.

Figure 4 is a vertical view in section taken on line t-4 of Figure 2,

Figure 5 is a broken View in section of the invention and a further vent tube which may be used with the invention if desired.

Figure 6 is a vertical view in section of the drain shown on line 6-6 of Figure 5, and

The drawings, in which like numeralsl Figure 7 is a sectional view of the additional vent tube showing it held closed by the pressure of the air in the tank.

Referring in detail to the drawing, a tank serving as an overhead expansion tank in a heating system is indicated generally by the numeral 10 and operatively connected to said tank is an automatic drain valve assembly, such assembly comprising a hollow body 11, which is positioned exteriorly of the tank and has its upper end secured in the threaded opening in the bottom of the tank.

The body 11 has within it a tubular member 12 which extends through and is spaced from the body 11, the space between the body and the tubularjmember forming a passage 11.. The upper end of the tubular member 12 projects above and is spaced from the upper end offthe body 1l to provide an inlet 12' into the passage 11. The upper end of the tubular member has a flange 13 which forms a valve seat. The lower end of the tubular member 12 projects from and closes the lower end of the body 11. A casing 15 is connected by one end to the body 1.1 intermediate its ends and has a passage 15 connested in communication with the passage 11', the other end of the casing being connected to the circulating uid contained in the heating system. A valve 16 is positioned within the casing and controls the iiow of the circulating fluid through the passage 1,1' and the inlet 112', such valve having a conical head 17 with ports 18 therein for the free passage of water into the passage 11 in the body 11 when the valve is open. A spring 19 normally holds the valve 16 open but on any drop in pressure in the tank the valve will close, except for the bleed hole 21, as seen in Figure 3, which admits water to break any y,vacuum which might result from the tank being drained.

An upstanding pipe 22 is positioned within the tank 10 and has the upper end 25 adjacent to and spaced from the top of the tank and has the lower end portion extending concentrically through and spaced from, the tubular member 12, the lower end 23 of the pipe 22 being secured to a drain` connection member which closes and is in communication with the lower end of the tubular member l2 where it projects from and closes the lower end of the body 10. The drain connection member 20 has a port in its side opposite to the drain conduit 24 and in communication with the interior of the pipe 22. The lower end portion of the pipe 22 extends concentrically through the tubular member 12 and is spaced from the latter to form a drain passage 22' connected in communication with the drain connection member 20. The interior of the pipe 22 is connected in communication with the port formed in the drain connection member 20 and is provided at its upper end with a flange 26 on which seats a valve 27, the valve being in the form of a ilat plate and loosely disposed between the flange 26 and the apertured top end 29 of a closed shell 2S. 'llhe shell 28 is circumposed about the upper end portion of the pipe 22 and is carried by the; upper end of an upstanding tube 30 which encircles and is slidable` upon the portion ofi the pipe 22 within the tank 10. Gircumposed about the intermediate portion of the tube 30 and secured to the tube 3i) is a float 31. The lower end of the tube 30 carries a valve face 32 which bridges and sealingly engages the liange 13 when the tube 30 is in its normal or lower position, to thereby close the drain passage 22.

In the embodiment shown in Figure 5, the air vent valve is separate from the float and merely has a pressure-held valve 33 in the lower end of a second pipe 34, and the tloat member 35 of this embodiment operates merely to open the annular valve which is formed by the valve seat i3 and valve face 32, to drain the water from the tank, the float member 3S being slidably supported on a pipe 36. The pipe 36 has its upper end 37 closed and has the In operation, with the valve 16 in the casing in its normal open position, the water flows into the passage 15', thence through the passage 11 and through the inlet 12 into the tank 10.

When the water reaches a predetermined level in the tank 10, the oat 31 moves upwardly, resulting in the shifting of the valve face 32 out of bridging and sealing engagement with the flange 13 and permitting the water in the tank to flow into the drain passage 22 and out of the drain conduit 24. Upon flow of water out of the tank 10 into the drain passage 22 a suicient pressure differential occurs across the valve 16 to cause compression of the spring 19 and shift the valve 16 to closed position. With the movement of the valve face 32 out of bridging and sealing engagement with the ange 13 the shell 28 is simultaneously moved upwardly, resulting in the apertured top end 29 of the shell 28 to be shifted away from the ange 26 and permitting the valve 27 to uncover the upper end of pipe 22 and enable air to enter the lower end -23 of the pipe 22 and flow upwardly through the pipe 22 into the shell 28 and out of the apertured top end 29 into the interior of the tank 10 to replace the volume of water which has been discharged from the tank 10 through the drain passage 22 and drain `conduit 24.

Due to the lesser diameter of the air vent in either of the embodiments, the water flowing from the tank causes a reduction in pressure in the tank, permitting the pressure diiferential across the valve 16 to close the valve against the tension of the spring 19. When the excess water has been removed from the tank 10, the valve 16 will again open under the action of the spring 19, permitting circulation of the water into the tank 10.

It should be understood that the operation of the thus described automatic drain valve assembly is independent of the normal functioning of the tank 10 to receive and discharge water from and to the heating system through the casing due to the expansion and contraction of the water in the system.

Other embodiments besides these preferred two may be made and practiced within the spirit and scope of the claims as set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. In a heating system having an overhead expansion tank, an automatic drain valve assembly operatively connected to the tank comprising a hollow body exteriorly of said tank and having its upper end connected to the bottom of said tank in communication with the interior of the latter, a tubular member extending through and spaced from said body, the space between said body and said tubular member forming a passage, the upper end of said tubular member projecting above and being spaced from the upper end of said body to provide an inlet into said passage, said tubular member having its lower end projecting from and closing the lower end of said body, a casing connected by one end to said body intermediate the ends of the latter and having a passage connected in communication with said body passage, said casing having its other end connected to the circulating uid contained in the heating system, an upstanding pipe positioned within said tank and having the upper end adjacent to and spaced from the top of saidl tank and having the lower end portion extending concentrically through and spaced from said tubular member, the space between said lower end portion of said pipe and said tubular member forming a drain passage, a conduit having an end portion connected in communication with said drain passage, a loat controlled valve operatively connected to said pipe normally closing said drain passage and actuable to open said drain passage when the uid contained in said tank reaches a predetermined level, valve means in said casing passage spring biased normally to open position and operable to close said passage by compression of said spring when said oat control valve has opened said drain passage, an air vent connected to said tank for admitting air .thereto when the liquid therein is drained through said drain passage, and valve means normally closing said air vent operable upon the reduction in pressure in said tank to open said air vent.

2. In a heating system having an overhead expansion tank, an automatic drain valve assembly operatively connected to the tank comprising a hollow body exteriorly of said tank and having its upper end connected to the bottom of said tank in communication with the interior of the latter, a tubular member extending through and spaced from said body, the space between said body and the tubular member forming a passage, the upper end of said tubular member projecting above and being spaced from the upper end of said body to provide an inlet into said passage, said tubular member having its lower end projecting from and closing the lower end of said body, a casing connected by one end to said body intermediate the ends of the latter and having a passage connected in V communication with said body passage, said casing having its other end connected to the circulating fluid contained in the heating system, an upstanding pipe positioned within said tank and having the upper end adjacent to and spaced from the top of said tank and having the lower end portion extending concentrically through and spaced from said tubular member, the space between said lower end portion of said pipe and said tubular member forming a drain passage, a conduit having an end portion connected in communication with said drain passage, a float control valve operatively connected to said pipe normally closing said drain passage and actuable to open said drain passage when the fluid contained in said tank reaches a predetermined level, valve means in said casing passage spring biased normally to open position and operable to close said passage by compression of said spring when said oat control valve has opened said drain passage, said pipe constituting an air vent for admitting air to said tank when the liquid therein is drained through said drain passage, and valve means carried on said pipe normally closing said air vent operable upon a reduction in pressure in said tank to open said air vent.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,381,897 Ackley June 21, 1921 1,526,269 Downton Feb. 10, 1925 

